Thankfulness

On August 30, 2011 before moving into this home, I was faced with my first challenge of living in this D-House... learning to be thankful. With Lauren's gentle encouragement to be thankful in all of the little, I moved into this home, and I can say for sure that these last three months have been more than just a blessing; sometimes I can't believe that this is actually real life. God has definitely been teaching me to be thankful as I live with these 5 beautiful and loving roommates, and it's been an awesome journey.

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Post-grad life has definitely not looked like what I had thought it would look like a year ago. First of all, I thought I would be living in Spain by now (and that's a whole different story). But at least I thought I would graduate BC, have a full-time job, and just live the typical every day life. No, my life does not look like that right now (wait, but I did graduate from BC), and it was difficult to deal with during my first few weeks of living in this house. I was disappointed and discouraged, and had a hard time managing all of the free time I had because my internship was only part-time. But during all of these discouraging moments, I had my sweet roommates who would leave me encouraging notes in my room or the bathroom mirror, or would just stop what they were doing to pray for me on the spot. Because of all the sacrificial love that my roommates have shared with me, there was no room for discouragement in my life.

Beccah. She brings so much joy into my life. She really knows how to make someone feel loved with her amazing hugs and sweet smile. Something I am learning from her is to not complain even when things don't seem to be going right; she sure is a joyful woman!

Diane. She loves me and she shows it all the time. DK calls me the little baby, but I love it when she plays that role too. It's all about the little things. I love having our korean food dinners together, and I think it's super cute when she asks me to sing her to sleep or blow dry her hair.

Erin. I don't think I've met another person who is as great of a listener as Erin is. She listens with her heart, and she remembers things about people. I value the many conversations we've shared, and I've learned incredible amounts from her. She is a woman of compassion, and her love is loud.

Kathy. My sweet roommate up in the attic. I love waking up to her worshipping on the guitar in the morning, and I love hearing about her stories with her students at pre-prac. She is one who understands me without having to explain myself all the time, and she teaches me to relax and just enjoy.

Lauren. Roommate, friend, sister and discipler. Is it even possible to play all of those roles? Well she does, and she does it well. There is always something to learn from Lauren, and I have grown immensely because of the way she has loved me, encouraged me, and prayed for me. She's also super gifted in making our house look all pretty so I am thankful for that.

Do I have the most wonderful roommates ever? YES :)

FAMILY NIGHT: DINNER & CHRISTMAS TREE SHOPPING & DECORATING THE HOME

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

For family night tonight, Diane cooked us a lovely Korean food dinner. I walked into the home after coming back from the gym to the delightful smell of her cooking, and yes it tasted as good as it smelled. There was so much laughter and joy at the table tonight as we shared in conversation and listened to Christmas carols. Because we are all so busy in our different ways, it's so hard to get all of us to eat together, and so I am thankful for our family nights that bring us together one night of the week to talk about our highs and lows of the day and to just enjoy each other's company :)

Thank you Diane for cooking this week, you've blessed our tummies!

These are all of my roommates in Lauren's car, super excited to go Christmas tree shopping!

So all six of us are pretty indecisive haha, so it took us a while to figure out which tree we wanted. But after much thought and consideration, we finally decided on this lovely tree that DK is posing next to. Isn't she beautiful? Diane, not the tree haha. Okay fine, the tree too.

And the decorating begins!

mmhmm, we had tons of fun with decorating our house, and ourselves HAHA

And then we had a little too much fun with the camera...

hahaha YES I love these girls so much!

So in conclusion, I am so thankful to be living in this house with these girls. It would be such a hard and long journey of faith if I didn't have these sweet friends, and so I am thankful for the way they love me and walk with me through it all. Thank you, and love you.

JOINT FAMILY NIGHT

Here are fun pics from our joint family night with the boyz d-house....

It was a fun evening!  With delicious food, including Eric's banging pot pie!!  And the quickest game of Mafia ever.  One of my favorite moments was def the dance off... especially Evan's salsa and Hannah's booty shakin.

Thanks guys for an awesome evening!

Snapshots of life!

A few moments in the life of the d-house gals this last week...

For the last few years, my Friday mornings have been filled with one thing: Prayer. Not just prayer. But early morning prayer.  7 am, to be exact. Although I realize most of the working world is used to getting up that early, 7am is quite painfully early for a college student.  But, every Friday, the BC section gathers to call out for our campus in prayer.  This past Friday, several of the girls from our house rose early in the AM to head to EMP.  It had gotten really chilly the night before, and so everyone bundled up and grabbed a warm cup of coffee for EMP... here's Erin and Beccah walking down Comm Ave.  What a sight...



Another snapshot.  I woke up this morning and headed to the Grace Nest for my time with the Lord.  Here's proof that Diane had a late night...



Coffee. Pepsi. Snacks. and work sprawled out over the table.

A funny moment from family night last night.  Erin began to share about a sermon she had listened to this weekend that had really challenged her.  "So, I was listening to this sermon this weekend called the unoffendable heart about living in community..."
Beccah interrupts, "Oh my gosh, I'm so convicted!!"
The rest of us look at Beccah.
"Convicted?.... She hasn't shared anything yet..."
"Just the title of it, Unoffendable heart, is convicting."

A funny moment, but also so challenging! I love the way these girls press into Jesus and the way they are sensitive to the conviction of the Holy Spirit! AMEN!

Women who crave more of Jesus!

One of the most encouraging things about the house so far is the maturity and hunger of my roommates before the Lord.  It's become a very routine thing to see a roommate camped out in the Grace Nest with their headphones on and Bible out.  I've been especially encouraged by our family nights!  This past week, I felt like God gave me the words Thankfulness and Repentance.  So, we started off with a time of thankfulness, by singing some worship songs.  We moved into a time of listening to a spoken/spontaneous word from an old World Mandate CD about thankfulness.  We then spend several minutes journaling out things we were thankful for.    Afterwards, inspired by the book of James, we had a time of repenting and confessing before Jesus and each other.    I mean, imagine being one of these girls.. you've got homework and tests, ministry, work, and the craziness of life buzzing in the back of your mind. It's a MONDAY afterall.. and LJ tells you to go into a time of repentance.  I think about my immaturity the first year of the D-house... I don't doubt that I would have rolled my eyes and thought to myself that I didn't have anything to repent for.... But not these girls... These are humble, teachable and sold out women for Jesus!  It was challenging and moving to hear these girls cry out to God in humility.  Tears were shed as they confessed their need for God.  I was sprawled out on the floor, when I realized my roommates had gathered around each other to pray.  It was so moved by the way each girl began crying out for one another.    The girls prayed over each other and heard words from the Lord, prophesying and speak life into the hurting places.    Our time of repentance took about twice as long as I expected/planned... but you can plan an outpouring of the Spirit!

I am continually encouraged by these girls faith! I think about Diane and Beccah, who've chosen to live off campus their senior year, when all their friends are together on campus.  They've chosen the narrow road, but Jesus is so faithful and worth it- I know He's delighted in the way they've positioned themselves before God.  I think of Hannah, who chose to put Jesus and community above the choice of being financial stability.  She is a woman of faith.  I think about Erin and how she is balancing school work, working and pre-prac on top of ministry, yet still takes the time to serve and love me;  I feel so covered by her and she takes time to love on the person in front of her.  Despite early mornings, she still lives a life marked by joy.  I think of Kathy, who would drop anything for anyone who had a need.  She's got so  much going on in her own walk with Jesus and finishing up grad school, but takes time for her friends.  She is a woman who perseveres in God even when it's hard or doesn't make sense.

I love these girls. I am blessed!!

Our house is coming together!

After the chaos of September 1st, our house is finally getting settled... Here are some pics of our house!

The pics were taken from my phone, so sorry if they are bad quality!  I love this house!! I am so thankful! It has been PERFECT for what this house has turned out to be! We host two BC faithgroups here a week!   It's the perfect FG house! I am blessed to get to bless our section with a place they can also call HOME!  We've also hosted section parties (SUNDAES ON SUNDAY!), leaders mtgs, surprise birthday celebrations, and several family nights.  God knows what we needed this year, and he gave us the perfect crib!  Hallelujah!

We all said we'd be in bed a hour ago...

Living with these girls is teaching me to let go and let conversation and laughter replace my "to do" list. It is so uplifting to dwell with such passionate and fun-loving women. Tonight is just an example of Crosby living.

I returned home after a long day of classes and work, feeling quite overwhelmed by the essay due the next day and the dinner I still had to cook (small things in the big scheme, but sometimes it's those minute details that can devastate the exhaustible heart). As I entered our apartment, I am greeted by the sweet voice of Hannah praising the Lord and playing the keyboard. She greets me with a smile, and asks me about my day. As I enter the kitchen to scout out some supper, probably stir fry, her beautiful praises follow in me and begin to gently massage my anxious heart. Before I know it, I'm dicing, cutting, mixing, frying, stirring, seasoning all to the glory of our Abba. Worship is contagious!

When I sit down to eat dinner Kathy comes bounding down the stairs. Her carefree spirit saturates the room, all is well. We eat and talk, Hannah joins - conversations of Kimchi, friendship, our fathers, and the Lord's provision. I am uplifted.

As I slip away to write my essay, I feel inspired to praise the Lord and blast some Misty. No complaints from my roommates - another plus! They are all supporters of the woman who changed my life, Misty Edwards graciously leading me to "see the way," for after all, "God is a lover, looking for a looooover!"

In a few hours my essay is finished. Kathy and Diane come bounding into my room as I type the last few concluding statements. Diane is giddy and rambunctious. We dance around the room, and suddenly I am five again. She flips her wet recently showered hair at me, and I crawl on all fours to escape the whip-like, wet, shampoo scented hair. Kathy observes with disdain, but eventually succumbs to our childish games. If only this were the constant state of our lives: bouncing on beds, laughing at ridiculous descriptions of future husbands, being five.

It's 11:30 and we're all claiming we're tired and should go to bed. Beccah returns home from a prayer meeting at JHOP. She fills us in on the passionate prayer taking place for college students across Boston. We rejoice together because we are not alone, God is plaguing his children from all over to wage war for college hearts sold out for Christ!

Somehow Beccah, Kathy, and I begin discussing the beauty of truth in christian relationship, the freed0m to fully divulge God's workings in our life (a recent revelation since LJs spirit led family night -- Oh right we are ALL broken people!). Beccah begins telling bits and pieces of her testimony that I'm hungry to hear since I've never gotten to experience the whole BECCAH Steven Story! She tells of her God ordained first visit to CFCF and her life since. Man, Lord you seek us, and provide!
Suddenly it's nearly 12 and we're not in bed yet. Oh wait, here comes Diane bounding into the room - we laugh as she quotes a favorite Dhouse phrase ...something about a stumble with a block (?).

It's 1230 before we retire to bed..but as I lay my head down I am only filled with excitement to live with these women who have encouraged me in so many significant ways already. Thank you Lord for placing me with women who call out my original design, who you have said I am, not what I feel like I am. You place the fatherless in families! You bring your daughters to sheltered places where they are free to unveil their enthralling beauty and dance in delight, for their Abba is provider.

I love these women. It's going to be a wonderful year, to be five and free.

Why are we blogging/what's happened so far??

We are creating this blog so that you all can be a part of what is going down on 54 Crosby Rd. As a discipleship house, our mission is to be obedient followers of Jesus, which means that our daily lives will look different--and hopefully be exciting. We wanted to have a place to testify to the goodness of God, as well a place to post any other ridiculous happenings here in Newton, MA.

WHAT GOD IS DOING: To start off, we have finally gotten our apartment together; it took a while, but before we knew it we started having two Faithgroups here per week, and lots of awesome new BC students being welcomed into our CFCF family. This alone is an answer to prayer, as it is clear that God has prepared many students' hearts in advance to come to know Him in a deeper, more intimate way. Our Tuesday night faithgroup this week was a testament to the hunger of the students here: we had an extended time of ministry and prayer, and everyone left having been touched by the living God! Amen!

BIRTHDAY FUN: Since it was my birthday on Tuesday, Erin, Hannah, Lauren, Diane, and Kathy planned a lovely evening full of surprises for me. I was expecting to have a normal night at home with the six of us, but they sneak attacked, blindfolded me, and drove me to Fire and Ice for a wonderful dinner--I had never been there! The funniest part was walking down the streets of Cambridge with the blindfold on; I can only imagine what people thought of us. Anyways, just when I thought the night was over, it....wasn't. They then blindfolded me again AFTER dinner to take me home to be greeted by many close friends for a birthday party! It was such a wonderful night and I cannot believe how loved I am, and how God has really ABUNDANTLY blessed me with such caring friends.

Hopefully some pictures will be posted soon of these events and of our comfortable new abode.

Much Love,
Beccah